Geoff Tate to Rocklahoma, "You Guys Suck"

I believe the other guys and not Tate. The (elevator music) direction the band has been on (like tate's solo stuff) is a direct indication that Tate had complete control of the band's inregrity. But since they have families, a brand name and loyal fans, they couldn't risk it all and walk away that easily... It became obvious they could not work with Tate. I'm looking forward to their new music without Tate and a return to their metal roots.

couldn't help myself, trying to refrain from doing more

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

couldn't help myself, trying to refrain from doing more

How about one stating Anton Levay's long lost son?

He looks like the love child of Yul Brynner and Anton LeVay.

Troublezone wrote:

He looks like the love child of Yul Brynner and Anton LeVay.

Y'know, all this drama has reminded me that I actually own Geoff Tate's debut solo disc... I couldn't tell ya the last time I listened to it, though. I got it in a pile of CDs that I bought at a yard sale a couple of years ago and thought it was pretty awful. Now with all this whoop-de-doo I'm almost tempted to pull it out and give it a spin.

...notice that I said "almost."

Meantime, this saga just keeps getting funnier. Now Parker Lundgren (Tates's former son in law) is weighing in on the saga:
http://blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=176605

...and former Dream Theater dude Mike Portnoy sez the QR mess makes his split with DT look like "a walk in the park"
http://blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=176607

As the Queensryche Turns...

All this stuff is like a bad soap opera.

I tend to side with the other band members here. Tate is the master of control it seems and now the others have had enough. And its another instance of someone's wife help ruining a band.

Quote :

And its another instance of someone's wife help ruining a band.

Susan Tate can now take her place amongst these other infamous band destroyers:

Yoko Ono

Sharon Osbourne

Janine Pettibone (If she told them once, she told them a THOUSAND times... Spinal Tap's name ABOVE the puppet show!)

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

And its another instance of someone's wife help ruining a band.

Susan Tate can now take her place amongst these other infamous band destroyers:

Yoko Ono

Sharon Osbourne

Janine Pettibone (If she told them once, she told them a THOUSAND times... Spinal Tap's name ABOVE the puppet show!)

could you imagine ozzy and Tate touring together? The two wives would be something!! to listen to

At the 3:58 mark, Geoff spitting on Scott:

thejokeriv wrote:

At the 3:58 mark, Geoff spitting on Scott:

Unbelievable. I would have kicked his ass.

Witchfinder wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

At the 3:58 mark, Geoff spitting on Scott:

Unbelievable. I would have kicked his ass.

I totally agree. I would have hopped that drum kit, and pounded his face in M.M.A style.

metalinmyveins wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

At the 3:58 mark, Geoff spitting on Scott:

Unbelievable. I would have kicked his ass.

I totally agree. I would have hopped that drum kit, and pounded his face in M.M.A style.

awww but little geoffy would have cried...

Thoughts:

I think there's some truth on both sides but Geoff has really damaged the brand. But in many ways he kinda is the brand. I just don't think whatever art-rock direction he was trying to take the band won over anyone. For example, I don't think anyone only likes their recent stuff but dislikes their first five albums but I think there are a lot of fans that are vice-versa.

I don't think the remaining 3 QR guys are really musical visionaries or were really busting their butt to come up with great material. I was surprised how sloppy the drums sounded live on that Rising West show. Maybe it is just because they haven't played many of those songs in years. A lot of the songs Wilton wrote were kindof saved by the vocals to make them above average and I guess we'll just see how well the LaTorre/Wilton collaboarations will work out. I wonder if Wilton was testing the waters with Ripper when he did that Soul Bender project with him. Really, I think this collaboartion has more potential (but less than a new CG album).

It was kindof unfair how QR were talking about their diminished album sales and blaming Tate 100%. A lot of that is true of any band these days. I think their larger point is true though, the QR brand has diminished a lot faster than others (with in my mind, the only other band who could compete wth falling farther faster would be Anthrax).

Since this all went down i went back and listened to some of OpMc2. The riffs on that album were pretty much nonexistent. I'm sure Wilton can do better than that.

Quote :

The riffs on that album were pretty much nonexistent. I'm sure Wilton can do better than that.

According to Wilton, his music wasn't used on that album...

"Susan Tate brought to the table the idea to record 'Operation: Mindcrime II'. The band was hesitant and did not want to lessen the original. But Susan Tate and Geoff Tate hired a budget producer and took control without really any other input. The manipulation of upfront monies was the Tates' main tool to get what they wanted. Scott Rockenfield, Eddie Jackson and I were squeezed out of having any input in the musical direction or business decisions, thus the project suffered. The rest was an organizational nightmare. The producer was never around when needed; he was constantly asleep on the job or playing games on his media player. He would send emails to the wrong email addresses. During the initial writing phase, I would show up to bring my input to the creative process only to find that the producer, the new guitar player (who were both staying with the Tates at the time), along with Geoff Tate had been up late the night before or up early that morning and had written the songs without me. I was then told my ideas were not needed as the songs were now done. I could, however, 'bring my own style' in during the recording after learning to play what they wrote for me. In frustration, I gave up on the writing process knowing that I would at least get to make changes in the studio to bring back the QUEENSRŸCHE sound into these songs that we were known for. The final straw was when they refused to let me to be a part of the final recordings and mixes. I was shut out and they had the nerve to replace some of my parts on my songs. They denied me flying to San Francisco to be a part of my band, telling me that everything was ready to go and I was not needed.

Wilton had three little credits on Mindcrime 2 (probably just solos). It's pretty much all Slater/Stone/Tate...


1. "Freiheit Ouvertüre" Eddie Jackson, Jason Slater, Mike Stone 1:35
2. "Convict" Geoff Tate 0:08
3. "I'm American" Slater, Stone, Tate 2:53
4. "One Foot In Hell" Slater, Stone, Tate 4:12
5. "Hostage" Jackson, Tate, Michael Wilton 4:29
6. "The Hands" Slater, Tate, Wilton 4:36
7. "Speed of Light" Slater, Stone, Tate 3:12
8. "Signs Say Go" Slater, Stone, Tate 3:16
9. "Re-Arrange You" Slater, Stone, Tate 3:11
10. "The Chase" Slater, Stone, Tate 3:09
11. "Murderer?" Slater, Tate, Wilton 4:33
12. "Circles" Jackson, Slater, Tate 2:58
13. "If I Could Change It All" Slater, Stone, Tate 4:27
14. "An Intentional Confrontation" Slater, Stone, Tate 2:32
15. "A Junkie's Blues" Slater, Stone, Tate 3:41
16. "Fear City Slide" Slater, Stone, Tate 4:58
17. "All the Promises" Slater, Stone, Tate 5:10

Looks like it's going to get a lot worse before (and if) it gets better. Hopefully the core of the band will push each other in songwriting so that whatever is released is more indicative of their talents, and shows that the brand can continue without Tate.

" In addition, Geoff Tate has shown an almost messianic dedication to these ill received songs and musical direction. He openly loathes the metal sound that made the band famous, even saying so to the press. Geoff Tate even refuses to perform the bulk of the songs from the first five, and most popular, albums, considering them 'stupid,' his refusal coming in the face of overwhelming fan demand. "

This is a lie go on youtube, their set list is top heavy with songs from their first 4 albums, the EP seems to be the one that gets ignored in their set list

Reading thru the claptrap of the legal documents, I do not see how Geoff Tate can win the rights to the name Queensryche. The other three have a legal claim on the name, and for all I know so does Chris DeGarmo, bad business decisions were made by all 4 men, to fire the dude who manages Rush ( has managed then since they played in clubs) Ray Daniels to install Tate's wife as a manager was a boneheaded move.

This is so much like the Roger Waters Vs Pink Floyd, Waters claimed that the band was creatively dead and that for all extent and purposes he was Pink Floyd, the difference is that Waters was not fired from the band but left the band on his own accord.

manny wrote:

the difference is that Waters was not fired from the band but left the band on his own accord.

And Waters spat at a fan rather than his bandmates.

I have read all the legal documents that are available and it appears that Tate will have a difficult time winning the QR name. The facts against him are:

1. Their corporate structure has been in place since 1989 and has successfully operated during that time with no complaints from all members. They even bought out DeGarmo's shares and spread them evenly amongst the four other members.

2. A quorum was reached in all decisions - it was always 3-1 against Tate. So he has no argument with firing his wife or family. Employees serve at the will of the corporation and if Tate didn't like the firing, he should have convinced at least one other member and prevented a quorum.

3. As a member of the corporation Tate breached his fiduciary duty to the other members by usurping a corporate opportunity for himself at the expense of the corporation - the Operation Mindcrime movie rights deal. This is a big no-no. You can't take opportunities from your own corporation. That alone is grounds for giving him the boot.

4. The remaining three members of QR acknowledge that Tate is owed 25% for his share of the corp and want the court to determine the amount as they could not negotiate with Tate.

Seems pretty cut and dried unless Tate can someone argue that the corporate form was invalid and he is the primary reason behind QR - this will be VERY difficult for him to prove.

I often remark how bands need to organize their legal affairs properly and never do but it appears that QR had a sound corporation set up (actually 3 of them). So kudos to them for that.

I am not surprised they had that set up since they seem like intelligent men, you would never know that from all the f**kery going on, but their music and lyrics reflect that.

I still do not buy they were bullied by Geoff Tate, they all went along with it, and probably would have continued to do so, if the offer of the movie deal (which doubt would have ever been made, he would stuck in development hell) had not soured already what seemed to be fractured relationships between bandmates.

All this crap aside, I do not see how Queensryche is going to make a major comeback without Tate, but Accept were able to do it, so let's see what happens

The first thing they're gonna have to do is play next year's Rocklahoma and M3 Festivals with the new guy to make up for the crap-taculars both crowds witnessed this year. They can call it "The Apology Tour"

All of this is certainly ensuring some good sales from whatever the QR camp puts out next, fans are suckers for the 'we're back!' thing.

I think they have a chance of getting more popular now without Geoff then with him. Which is kind of sad but the way it is.